Whatever the reason, tonight, his rage ignites in a flash.
I watch, terrified, as his flushed face knots up in hatred. Is it because my sister and I stand between him and his liquid candy?
Keeping my screams pressed down, I hold my hand over my mouth, watching the man who I thought was my protector take the back of Jenise’s head and shove her face hard into the bowl of creamed corn—our dinner.
He couldn’t even be bothered to warm it up, let alone prepare a nutritious dinner for us, his daughters.
Children of alcoholics are often sacrificed in their parent’s pursuit of their addiction. If the child looks okay, they are. Emotional support is withheld—the parent doesn’t know how. They are numbed. The result? The child is also numbed. Love is dumbed down. They don’t know how to cope because they’re immersed in dysfunction. The important talks so often in stories, movies or on TV between parent and child are missing.
- Question: How is the cycle continued? Is it handed down? Cause children to have trouble with relationships? How so? Worst of all, is the result the pursuit of their own substance abuse?
- What I found out by talking with others?
I discovered I wasn’t alone. Literally dozens of people I’d opened up to had experienced what I did. If I’d engaged sooner, would I still have carried a self-imposed burden I’d placed on myself?
I’ll never know.
What I do know? I’m free from those chains of silence and dysfunction.
FEB
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